Pursuant to 37 C.F.R. 1.71(e), Applicants note that a portion of this disclosure contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
Current portable electronic devices, such as cellular telephones, personal digital assistants, radios, and the like have been designed and manufactured in ways that limit a user""s interface with the devices. These devices frequently include housings with output display screens positioned above input keypads during intended usage. Single-handed operation of a device with this configuration generally forces a user to hold the device with its center of gravity less than securely placed, if at all, within the hand. This lack of functional optimization makes one-handed operation difficult. These disadvantages are significant, because often a user has only a single hand available to engage the device due to a brief case, package, steering wheel, or other article occupying the other hand. For example, between establishing a communication link and communicating, the device is typically manipulated in the hand in order to switch between these tasks since the keys or other input mechanisms are not optimally disposed for operation by one hand.
The layout of existing portable electronic devices also contributes to repetitive stress injuries and other stress-related problems. Manipulation of many existing hand-held devices, especially during one-handed operation, produces awkward movements that cause stress on, e.g., the wrist, hand, and fingers. This is frequently due to balancing or otherwise holding the device at or near one end and stretching or constricting the thumb and/or fingers while attempting to engage the device. Aside from personal injury, this mode of holding and operating these devices makes it more likely that they will be dropped and damaged.
Hand-held devices which are optimized for communications and which include display screens below a set of input keys which provide for 10 digit or complete alphanumeric information input are not available. It would also be desirable to have portable electronic devices that are more directly configured for one-handed operation.
The present invention provides various portable electronic devices and methods related thereto. The devices generally include a housing that includes a front surface and a back surface. The front surface typically includes an upper region and a lower region. The devices also optionally include an input keypad in or proximal to the upper region. The input keypad typically includes input keys for inputting, e.g., each number in a ten digit system. Additionally, the devices optionally include a display screen in or proximal to the lower region. The display screen provides an output, e.g., for at least one or more numbers inputted from the input keypad or for stored or received data.
The components of the portable electronic devices of the present invention include various orientations relative to each other. For example, the display screen, the input keypad, or both, are optionally adjustably rotated relative to the housing, e.g., by a user. The housing, the display screen, and the input keypad each include at least one relative orientational axis in which the relative orientational axes are optionally substantially parallel or substantially non-parallel. Alternatively, the relative orientational axes of the display screen and the input keypad are substantially parallel, while an angle formed between the relative orientational axis of the display screen and the relative orientational axis of the housing is greater than zero. Each relative orientational axis optionally includes one or more distance, such as a length, a width, a base, a height, a non-diagonal length, or the like.
The components of the devices of the present invention also optionally include assorted shapes. For example, the front or the back surface of the housing is optionally formed in a shape that includes a regular n-sided polygon, an irregular n-sided polygon, a triangle, a square, a rectangle, a trapezoid, a circle, an oval, or the like. An external surface of the display screen and of the input keypad similarly each individually optionally include a shape independently selected from, e.g., a regular n-sided polygon, an irregular n-sided polygon, a triangle, a square, a rectangle, a trapezoid, a circle, an oval, or the like.
The display screen of the invention typically displays, e.g., textual information, graphical information, video information, or combinations thereof. The display screen also optionally includes, e.g., the input keypad on an upper region of the screen, in which the input keypad is a graphical screen keypad.
The input keypad and the input keys include various configurations. For example, the input keys of the input keypad optionally include at least one symbol disposed thereon. Furthermore, a portion of at least one of the input keys of the input keypad is optionally elevated or depressed relative to the front surface. The input keypad also optionally includes a graphical screen keypad or a virtual keypad. Alternatively, the input keypad also includes, e.g., at least 10 input keys. Optionally, the input keypad includes less than 10 input keys, in which at least some of the input keys are pressed more than once or in which multiple input keys are pressed simultaneously. The input keypad optionally also includes additional input keys, e.g., for inputting letters from an alphabet or commands represented by abstract insignia disposed on the additional input keys. The input keys of the present invention are also optionally utilized for partial or complete alphanumeric entry, e.g., of the 10 digits of a standard numeric system and for some or all of the letters of a given alphabet, such as the English, German, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, or other alphabets.
The portable electronic device of the present invention optionally includes, e.g., a telephone, a telephone headset, a cellular phone, a cordless telephone, a cordless telephone headset, a calculator, a computer, an electronic organizer, a personal information manager, a personal digital assistant, a television, a global positioning device, a paging device, a radio, a CB radio, a short-wave radio, or the like. The devices also optionally include additional elements, such as a microphone, a speaker, an antenna, and the like.
In certain embodiments, a portion of the front surface is optionally movable relative to the back surface, or a portion of the back surface is optionally movable relative to the front surface. Additionally, at least one dimension of the device is optionally capable of at least one dimensional change, e.g., telescoping or folding a portion of the device in at least one dimension.
The present invention also includes methods of manufacturing a portable electronic device. The method typically includes forming a housing, a display screen, and input keys using one or more fabrication technique, in which the housing includes a front surface and a back surface, and in which the front surface includes an upper region and a lower region. The methods also include assembling the display screen and the input keypad in or on the front surface such that the input keys are disposed in or proximal to the upper region and the display screen is disposed in or proximal to the lower region. The input keys are optionally assembled in or on the front surface into an input keypad that includes, e.g., input keys for each number in a 10 digit system. The input keys are also optionally utilized for partial or complete entry of some or all of the letters of a given alphabet. The fabrication technique(s) selected to manufacture the device components optionally include, e.g., injection molding, compression molding, cast molding, die cutting, laser cutting, or the like. Additionally, the method includes assembling the display screen and the input keypad in or on the housing such that either or both is/are optionally adjustably rotated relative to the housing.
The present invention also includes a method of using a portable electronic device. The method includes holding the device in at least one hand of a user and positioning the device proximal to a head of the user. Thereafter, the user optionally engages the device by viewing the display screen, operating the input keypad with at least one finger on the hand, listening to sounds produced by a speaker disposed in the device, speaking into a microphone disposed in the device, or by performing a simultaneous or non-simultaneous combination of these steps.